7 Realistic Free Agents for Vikings to Consider

7 Realistic Free Agents for Vikings to Consider
Akiem Hicks

The legal tampering period of free agency begins on Monday, March 14th, and if the Minnesota Vikings actually clear cap space over the weekend, expect the team to add some relatively impactful free agents.

Chiefly, Minnesota needs improvements for the interior offensive line, cornerback, and EDGE rusher areas. Some of these needs can be fulfilled in free agency, while other roster holes will be addressed in the 2022 NFL Draft in April.

Sexy free agents aren’t included on this list — except for perhaps one — as the Vikings are over the cap by $15 million as of March 11th. The team must add new faces on a condensed budget. At least that’s the way the trend is heading now.

In alphabetical order, these are seven free agents for Minnesota to explore next week.


Brian Allen (LAR) – Center

2021 PFF Grade = 80.2

Age = 26

Expected Price = $6 to $9 million per season

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Garrett Bradbury is under contract on a rookie deal as the Vikings current starting center. But Minnesota’s new brass may veer in another direction — and perhaps smartly so.

Bradbury struggles with pass protection. Allen does not. Kevin O’Connell coached Allen in February’s Super Bowl, so the proverbial player-coach “ties” are strong on this one.

Bryce Callahan (DEN) – Cornerback

2021 PFF Grade = 60.0

Age = 30

Expected Price = $3 to $5 million per season

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The Vikings have a new defensive coordinator, Ed Donatell, and he’s fond of the Vic Fangio system. Callahan made a name for himself in the Fangio scheme, even joining the ex-Broncos skipper in Denver after his Bears career ended.

Callahan is a decent, past-his-prime cornerback. Minnesota has one startable corner on the roster right now, Cameron Dantzler. They need more. Callahan can be scooped from the bargain bin.

Austin Corbett (LAR) – Guard/Center

2021 PFF Grade = 68.8

Age = 26

Expected Price = $9 to $12 million per season

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Corbett can play guard and center, and the Vikings could be replacing all men at those positions this offseason. At the positions Corbett plays well, the Vikings have struggled woefully for about five years.

Corbett also played in O’Connell’s offense in Los Angeles, and those relationships are important.

But like all free agents on this list, Minnesota must find the cap room for a quasi-expensive offensive trenchman like Corbett.

Kyle Fuller (DEN) – Cornerback

2021 PFF Grade = 47.2

Age = 30

Expected Price = $4 to $6 million per season

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Re-read the musings on Bryce Callahan. He and Fuller are nearly clones. Callahan played better in 2021, but Fuller has constructed a commendable career. Fuller was even a First-Team All-Pro corner in 2018. If you’re a Vikings fan, you know him well, as Fuller spent most of his career in Chicago.

Fuller isn’t young, and his 2021 production was ho-hum. Yet, he could be a reasonable depth corner for the 2022 Vikings.

Akiem Hicks (CHI) – Defensive Lineman

2021 PFF Grade = 72.3

Age = 32

Expected Price = $7 to $10 million per season

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This is why you chose to read the article.

Hicks, too, is a longtime Chicago Bears defender, always seeming to slice-and-dice the Vikings on Monday night — and every other day of the week.

Indeed, the Bears employed Khalil Mack for four years, but it was Hicks who Vikings fans feared. Hicks is a menace, and Minnesota could cancel his purple terrorism by simply adding him to the 2022 squad.

If you can beat them, join them. Hicks is also a Fangio-infused player likely coveted by Donatell.

Laken Tomlinson (SF) – Guard

2021 PFF Grade = 75.9

Age = 30

Expected Price = $8 to $11 million per season

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

If the Vikings don’t want Corbett for this spot, Tomlinson is a sage decision to pursue. He was elected to his first Pro Bowl in 2021. He played left guard for San Francisco in 2021, so he might move to the right side on the Vikings line — or Ezra Cleveland could make the shift.

Tomlinson is not a Quenton Nelson-type superstar, but he is as dependable and steady as they come.

Darious Williams (LAR) – Cornerback

2021 PFF Grade = 65.3

Age = 28

Expected Price = $8 to $11 million per season

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Williams has been predicted a couple of times already by NFL brains to join the Vikings, mainly because of the aforementioned O’Connell-Rams ties. Jalen Ramsey stole all of the headlines for Rams cornerbacks last year — rightfully so — but Williams is a pretty solid starting defensive back.

He’s tabulated six career interceptions in 46 career games, joining the league in 2018 as an undrafted free agent. He also spent a little bit of time with the Baltimore Ravens.

Potentially pairing Williams with Dantzler — and maybe Ahmad Gardner or Derek Stingley Jr. — doesn’t sound too terrible.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His YouTube Channel, VikesNow, debuts in March 2022. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

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